The Catholic Calendar for Friday, December 29, 2000
Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
St. Thomas Becket
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 John 2:3-11
Psalm 96:1-3,5-6
Luke 2:22-35
Full text: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm
A Reflection on Today's Scripture:
In today's First Reading, St. John the Evangelist exhorts us as
followers of Christ to live holy lives, to love our brother, not to
hate him. John explains that the person who hates his brother walks
in darkness, in the shadow of sin. If we steadfastly refuse to change
our hardened hearts, if we continue to harbor malice toward our
neighbor, we cannot claim to be followers of Christ.
So, the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New, urge us to cast off
our deeds of darkness, to forgive and to love, to live in happiness
and joy, to exult in the Lord. If we are darkened by our sins, we
must honestly examine our soul, we must seek a change of heart.
Surely, we believe that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, who was
born of the Virgin Mary in the stable, and was adored by shepherds
and angels - the humble, the holy. Certainly we believe Jesus'
teaching and His call to sacrifice; and finally, His death on the
Cross for our sins. Would we dare to make a mockery of His sacrifice
to the Father by ignoring our sinfulness and our need to reform our
lives? Shouldn't we reform our lives out of our love for God -- and
our neighbor?
We must be determined to give up our selfish thoughts and judgments
of others. We must bend our stubborn will to learn the truth: both
about ourselves and about God's law of love.
- Joachim, ocds
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